shepard: the people speak and now they are emailing by the millions. tonight, health care reform who wants it. i'm shepard smith. the news starts now. >> health care now. shepard: for days they have confronted lawmakers about health care. >> it's not fair. shepard: some screaming their outrage from the steps. >> say no to socialism. >> facts not fear. >> i'm very unhappy. that's why i am here. shepard: now evidence that all the yelling may actually be having an impact. >> how much money did you take from health care. >> how dare you. >> shepard: tonight new proof of the outrage effect. shepard: the health care reform debate may now be crashing congress. americans are sending in so many

emails, they tell us to the representatives on the hill, it seems they're overloading the main house web site house.gov. that just the latest sign of how strongly lots of people feel about this issue. for other signals look at the town halls that have been happening across the nation. we have been monitoring these meetings these days in states all over the land in the last day. they have gotten very fiery as supporters and opponents of the reform face off in public. check out the latest showdowns. >> this was very poorly planned. very poorly planned. shepard: in rutherford, new jersey, things quickly boiled over. >> we have come to a point where it's more important to give illegal immigrants, illegal aliens health care. >> racist! >> how dare you. >> stop that come on. >> how dare you. shepard: this was the sixth meeting democratic congressman steve rothman has held in just the past three days. still, so many people showed up they couldn't all get inside. republican congressman mike

coffman hosted an event in littleton, colorado. >> how much money did you take from health care? shepard: a lot of shouting. both insides and out. >> facts not fear. facts not fear. >> public option to serve private options and private options destroy jobs. shepard: in coalville washington catherine rodgers looked to impa theisman with health care clinics. >> consumers have lost options. we have lost competition. >> put ton a national ballot. if the american people want health care reform, they vote for it if they don't want health care reform, they don't vote for it. shepard: about 200 miles west in everett. the democratic congressman rick larson held a town hall meeting at a ballpark. >> we are not trying to change the current gas, electric form of health care. the hybrid form of health care that we have in this country. there is publicly provided care like medicare and medicaid and private health insurance as

well. we are trying to fix thranchts is discrepancies between what we're being told and what we see. shepard: and now we are seeing that all this health care debate may be affecting what people think of our president. daily tracking poll shows 47% of the registered voters approve of the president's performance. lowerrest level it has been so far it does not use human callers so take this and all polls with a grain of assault as we report. there is no denying this health care debate hasn't done with as smoothly as the obama administration would perhaps have liked. team fox coverage of where things stand right now. carl cameron getting reaction from the folks at the state fair in iowa. shannon bream right across from the capitol tonight. shannon, when the president was still campaigning, he was really connecting with people. now maybe not as much. >> absolutely. you know, he was billed as a very gifted communicator. he did make those connections. he likes the campaign format. we see that as he heads out to

town halls. he is meeting with a lot of resistance. 84% of americans with health insurance say they rate it as good or excellent. that is a very tough awfd yens to convince. shep, it's going to take a lot more than a great speech. shepard: we have been reading reports that the white house had some sort of agreement with the pharmaceutical lobby to lower drug prices in exchange for certain rules that would help that industry. both sides have denied it but it's come up again today. >> they have. a memo has surfaced that allegedly outlines this so-called back room deal between the house and pharmaceutical companies. today, at the white house press briefing press secretary robert gibbs was pushed again and again on what the white house conceded to get that dual done. if, it's, in fact true, here was his response. >> i can assure you that we have come to an agreement to seek some savings from the pharmaceutical industry as part of comprehensive health care reform. >> not exactly the detailed response that reporters were looking for. shep. shepard: shannon bream in front of the capitol tonight. as we reported a moment ago, we are seeing new indications that

the town hall meetings are having an impact. those indications come in the form of the polls. check out this one from "u.s.a. today" and gallup. shepard: but the newspaper reports the white house is questioning the poll with advisor david axelrod, expressing some skepticism about exactly how they conducted it. so what do regular folks really think? carl cameron has been at the state fair in iowa, des moines. karl, what are they saying? >> well, there is a recognition that things have turned a little bit and the opposition is getting a lot louder. there is no shortage of people that recognize that the healthcare system is too expensive. when we talk to them here at the iowa state fair there, is complaints and concerns and a quizzical aspect as to why things haven't been completed already. here is a quick sampling. >> i don't think we should be socialized. i think we are a represented republic not a communist nation. i don't think there is any authorization in the constitution for the federal government to be involved at

all. >> they haven't decided anything nobody decided nothing. and everybody is rushing to the bandwagon saying oh it's going to be this way or it's going to be this way. it's not going to be nothing yet. they haven't decided anything. >> three more weeks in this congressional break before lawmakers get back to washington and back to work, shep. opposition is growing in the meantime. shepard: hot summer. we have fox polls that may shed some light on some of. this yeah. it explains a great deal as to what people are most concerned about. let's take a look at the polls. when asked what should be the higher priority reducing the deficit or reforming health care. 57% say reducing health care to only 37% who say reforming health care is more important. based on what they know right now, the poll says, 34% favor reform and 49% oppose it. that's a slight change from july. it's 2 points less, 36% favored reform back then and 47% opposed it. it is not a direction not a

trajectory the white house wants and one opponents would be hoping this congressional recess would begin to yield. shepard: karl, thanks. root out the taliban fighters in afghanistan. u.s. marines report militants are using women and children as shields. forcing them to be very careful, at times holding back their fire entirely. >> fire in the hole. shepard: troops keeping up pressure in the strong hold of du. >> na a as part of the second phase. they are going door to door searching for militants. fox news embedded with the marines and getting a rare look at this action. >> we have been hearing taliban fire all around us, coming into contact with the marines. can you hear it there right now. these marines are working with another squad, another platoon as they work their way down this village trying to clear this place. the taliban aren't giving up. >> tell him that right now is not safe for them to walk over there.

they have to come with us. >> tell them the taliban has guns all over. >> there there is no peace and security in this country and we are concerned. now hopefully security and prosperity will come to this village. we all look forward to that. >> shepard: and as you can see, marines helped villagers escape from their homes and get out of line of fire. they're hoping by driving the taliban out, folks in the area will be more willing to cooperate with coalition troops. again, to connor powell from our kabul bureau in afghanistan. taliban fighters appear to be keeping up the resistance here. >> that's right, shep. the taliban is not giving up. marines say they have encountered sporadic yet very intense fighting over the past few days. american and afghan forces control now about half of the town of did youdunna. progress has been steady but slow. general stanley mccrystal has placed a real emphasis on protecting civilians during this

operation and across the country. so what it means is that marines cannot fire unless they know for a fact they are not going to hit civilians. they can't call in air support because pilots, too, can't just open fire without knowing for a fact they can protect civilians. so, what it means is they have made a lot of progress. they are not ready to declare victory but the military is pretty confident they have this area under control by the time afghans go to vote next week. shep? shepard: connor powell live in the afghan capital this early morning. well, he was convicted of an attack that killed hundreds of jet passengers. now, there is word the locker buy bomber could get to go home to libya for reasons of compassion. we'll get reaction just ahead. plus, we're just getting in brand new video. remember when the chopper and the airplane collided over the hudson river just off new jersey and new york city? now there is video of it as it happened. and it's next. quality and reliability...

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>> there is word tonight that the man convicted of killing 270 people in a terrorist attack could be sent back to his home country. his name is abdul a former libyan secret service agent and the only person ever convicted in connection with with the lockerbie bombing. it got the name -- the british news media are now reporting that scotland's government is likely to return this man megrahi to libya next week because he has terminal cancer. the report has put a spotlight on divisions between people involved with the lockerbie case. listen. >> there was no compassion shown for the 270 victims who were murdered. and so i think we have sloan him more compassion than he showed his victims. >> i would be very delighted to go home to his family to die.

it would be inhumane second dear cancer from his prostate. i'm pleased about that i'm pleased to hear that authorities are going to use compassionate release. shepard: originally a judge sentenced him to life in prison. scott speicher finally back in his home in florida tonight. this nearly 18 years after the plane was shot down over raike on the opening night of the first gulf war. scott speicher's fate remained a mystery. pentagon announced that bone nagments had been positively identified. this morning in jacksonville, the hero's welcome he so richly deserved. our senior correspondent rick leventhal here with more it? >> was a somer and emotional scene at the jacksonville naval air station after nearly two decades of waiting. his flag draped coffin greeted by members of the navy and his family. his wife placing flowers on the

coffin. his children were just 2 and 4 years old as his plane was shot down. >> as sad as we are with the loss of captain speicher, i think we should all be very humbled by the service and sacrifice that he and his family have given our navy and our nation. >> captain speicher's remains are now at all saints chapel at the air station where people with base access can pay their respects. tomorrow there will be a 30-mile motorcade stopping for a ceremony at the veterans war memorial and passing by places connected by scott speicher's life including a church where he taught sunday school and where he graduated. memory gardens scott will be buried in a private ceremony. scott speicher was flying a fighter jet when he was shot down 1991. it's believed he ejected before the crash about 100 miles west of baghdad. the prevailing theory is he didn't survive the landings and was buried in the desert.

a spokesperson said on "studio b" there is still no firm conclusion exactly how and where scott died, shepard. shepard: rick lesson that you will, thank you. it's a new effort to prevent terrorists from launching attacks in the air. it means some changes for all of us passengers. the extra information that the airlines will want the next time we buy a plane ticket. changes that start this weekend. details are coming up. plus, he confessed to carrying on an affair with a campaign staffer. but now reports of another possible confession from the former presidential candidate john edwards. he is in the cube. and it's next.

shepard: getting first look tonight at the moment of impact at that horrific collision over the weekend between a small airplane and a tourist helicopter. the one that happened over the

hudson river between new york city and new jersey. in it you can see the helicopter, look there, it would be to the right with the plane approaching from behind and the camera pulls out. and the cash, the hope is this will give investigators some help in figuring out exactly what happened here. the crash killed all nine people who were in the air. and developing news on fox news channel. huge development in the extramarital affair of former presidential candidate john edwards. according to wral news out of raleigh, north carolina. the former north carolina senator is expected to admit that he is the father of his exlover's daughter. edwards ran not once but twice for president and admitted to cheating on his wife with this woman reel hunter. she worked on his 2008 presidential campaign. a federal grand jury is now investigating whether hunter illegally received campaign funds to keep quiet about that affair. keep in mind, reel hunter went before the grand jury last week

with her daughter in tow. we now have a time line that would appear to leave holes in john edwards' original story. he first claimed that the affair lasted a, quote, short period in 2006. later that year, john edwards announced he would run for president. three months after that edwards and his wife elizabeth blublely announced that her breast cancer had spread to her bones. also in 2007, edwards aide admitted to fathering the child. february of 2008 hunter gave birth to the girl and the father's name was not put on the birth certificate. then in a statement released in august of last year, so a year ago, john edwards admitted to the affair and said, quote: shepard: now, the national enquirer reported, and they have not b ng been wrong at all on this story, now wral reports as

well that john edwards could make this public admission for the criminal investigation is over. we're working to confirm here updates as we get them. well, booking flights will be a little bit different starting this weekend. it's part of a government push to cut down on the number of mistaken identity cases in which really innocent people are delayed or even kept from flying at all because their names are the same as or similar to ones on that no fly list from the government. airlines will now ask you for your gender and your birth date. right now there is no penalty if you don't want to give that information we're told once the program is fully in place lie sometime next year airlines could refuse to give you a boarding pass if you refuse to give the information. some analysts say they are not convinced that this will actually make anybody any better off the reason you get picked up is because their list isn't worth anything. now we are going to have my sex which i think is fairly obvious and my birthday which i don't want to give out to anybody. it's not going to improve

security. it's more bureaucratic process. shepard: the rules go into effect this saturday. there is a dangerous wildfire in northern california to tell you about now. the blaze has forced thousands of people to evacuate and is threatening hundreds of homes. let's take a live look at the wildfire in the santa cruz mountains. the flames kicked up last night. now close to four square miles or r. said to be burning. the fire in the santa cruz mountains about 80 miles almost do you south of san francisco. two entire towns evacuated bonny done doon. one side appears to be more vocal. how the organizers are filling those seats. plus, you have seen yet, our major garrett with some questions for the white house about some emails the administration has been sending? a look at that. as major reports live straight away. lightweight.

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wisconsin. a surveillance camera catching a wanna be robber walking into a jamesville bar. the 18-year-old's prom misting life of crime comes to sawedden halt when he comes out the hard wave that the bar is full of cops. >> it just happened so quick. after that it tended to be the joke of downtown. the officers requested we burn some video for them. because nobody was going to believe them without pictures. shepard: many of the officers in town for a police association golf tournament. idaho. a couple went to a wal-mart to look at engagement rings and walked out engaged. >> all of a sudden got down on his knees. i didn't think he was going to do it and he did. he got down on his niece and i was like oh my god. i just started bawling. >> the groom says he didn't really want to propose at wal-mart. the ring was there and the clerk encouraged him. california. the san francisco zoo's four newest penguins in a kind of graduation procession. they have spent the past few months learning how to swim and feed themselves before joining

the big kids. and that's a fox watch across america. >> fox across america is brought to you by verizon wireless. shepard: i'm shepard smith. you're on "the fox report." it's the bottom of the hour. time for the touch the news. the white house trying to take control of the health care reform message. in the process, it's coming up against two very different pictures of what's going on across the country right now. there is the image from president obama's town hall on tuesday. an enthusiastic, polite crowd and a relatively calm question and answer session. compare that so some of the other scenes we have been showing you this week, this is video from senator in maryland yesterday. a lot of angry people there. from the white house perspective that is not a good image. today the white house press secretary robert gibbs said the rowdy town halls don't show an accurate picture of really what's happening in america. whether robert gibbs is right or wrong about that, it does seem the white house has had a very hard time trying to control the

message. our senior white house correspondent major garrett is live there this evening. sounds like even a simple mass email is causing some problems for the administration and you are, too, major. >> well, shepard, it's been quite a day. let me just say that david axelrod sent out an email from the white house web site that described what the president's health care reform and try to dispel some of the myths that the white house says have cropped up in the health care debate. during the course of today's white house briefing i asked robert gibbs because some people are h. contacted me before the briefing said i never asked the white house for correspondence on health care or any other topic i received. this how could this be? this went on for quite some time. we will show a bit of that in a second. robert gibbs asked me for emails i received so he could check it from a white house list it went on from from. >> again, but i just want to be. >> what you are telling me is i need to you give you these people emails so you can check

them on a list. i'm just asking you. >> you are asking me if they're on a list. >> no, they are telling me. >> we have a different way of checking without asking me to double-check the names. i'm happy. >> they're telling me they can't be on a list because they never asked for an email from the white house. trace: where do things stand now, shepard, during the briefing, robert gibbs as you just heard asked me for emails. during the briefing i didn't have -- give emails to the white house. i have it now. i told robert gibbs i'm willing to provide them. at this hour he has yet to get back to me. shepard: what's he saying about the different scenes at the town hall meetings and the ones the lawmakers have been holding. >> one americans are deferential when the presence of any president. president obama, president bush, and the others. they don't screen the clouds crowds there is a lottery system for 70% of the audience town halls there will be another one in montana tomorrow. 30% are set aside to sympathetic officials in the region. that's how things will be conducted in montana.

white house says they like a rigorous robust debate. whether they get in their own town halls probably not. lawmakers are. shepard: thank you. mixed news from the jobs market. the number of americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits went up unexpectedly last week. that's according to the department of labor which reports there were 4,000 more first time claims than the week before. but at the same time we learned the total number of americans continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by more than 140,000, to just more than 6.2 million. the so-called experts were way off in guessing how much money spent in stores last month. they were expecting retail sales to rise, almost 1%. they did not. they went down. july sales down 0.1% in june it would have been worse had it not been cash for clunkers program. auto sales were up big last month. take those out of the pictures and retail sales would have

fallen more than half a per sen tant poij point. rich edison is live from the washington business desk tonight. rich, what happened? >> the worse of the recession could well be over. the economy still has to dig itself out of a significant hole. americans are still unemployed, deep in death and not ready to head back to the stores. jobless claims were up last week from the week before. americans are worried and those making money are holding on to it. shepard: while on the topic, the largest retailer in all the world, wal-mart, where they just had a nice engagement, reporting quarterly earnings that beat expectations, what of that. >> despite that ring sale, they cut costs and they cut some of their prices that brought in some customers and wal-mart brought about $3.5 billion in the second quarter. that's better than many analysts had expected. the recession still hit the company. wal-mart sales are down. worse than executives had predicted. for this quarter wal-mart says it expects better sales numbers. we will find out in a few

months. live. shepard: live in washington, rich, thanks. no more iou's for taxpayers for taxpayers owed refunds in the state of california. the state's financial officers announced today they will start being able to cash in refunds next month. many consider the iou's the most visible sign of california's budget crisis. the governor there, arnold schwarzenegger recently revised the 8 a billion-dollar budget which now gives california the ability to pay those tax refunds with short-term loans. more than 300,000 people have gotten ious from the states since july. fiewnsz is tracking h1n1 in our schools. only mid august but already some schools in most of the southeast back in session. that means thousands of students spending much of the day in close quarters and health officials are predicting that the number of h1n1 cases could skyrocket. the centers for disease control and prevention nevertheless urging schools to stay open marianne silber reporting today

inside a dunn woody with a look what officials are doing there to keep the virus in check. >> classes just started at this atlanta elementary school taking steps to stop h1n1 before it has a chance to spread. they are doing things like putting in hand sanitizing stations where kids can wash their hands as they're running out to recess. also, they are advising students to keep their desk area clean by using disinfectant wipes. anything to stop the spread of germs. if a student does start to feel sick. they come here and visit nurse johnson. say hello. >> hello. how are you doing? >> once the student comes in here, she will evaluate them, check their symptoms. take their temperature. if they are running a high fever, she will go ahead and put them in a special area here at the back of the nurse's office. it's their quarantine room where they will sit and wait for a patient. once a parent does arrive. they walk out the front office and go home to recover which is exactly what cdc officials want them to do. it's bawl prevention and keeping kids healthy.

shep? shepard: marianne silber reporting early from dunn woody in atlanta. drugmakers are scram gloing develop a vaccine ahead of the h1n1 surge. then a push to get as many people vaccinated as possible. now one state, massachusetts is recruiting and training dentists, paramedics and pharmacists to help administer the vaccine. >> first stayed in the -- state in the country that has voted to have regulations that significantly expand the pool of vac sin nature and to include license and certified health care workers that previously had not been drawn in. shepard: health care workers are on the top of the list to get the vaccinations and children and pregnant women as well as women with underlying medical conditions. keep in mind, state officials say h1n1 shots should be in addition to the regular seasonal flu vaccine. well, the mystery is deepening

tonight. a 4,000-ton cargo ship with 15 crew members on board lost at sea without a trace. but exactly what kind of cargo was on that ship? there are new indications of what might have happened and why. that's next. urn. 24/7... including the eight hours you spend with your eyes closed. prilosec otc. heartburn gone. power on.

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side effects may include next-day drowsiness, dizziness, and headache. in patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur. if you experience any of these behaviors or reactions contact your doctor immediately. wake up ready for your day-ask your healthcare provider for 2-layer ambien cr. shepard: there are new questions about a russian manned cargo ship in the north atlantic. it just got interesting a growing mystery happening before that ship named the arctic sea dropped off the grid, whether it was really attacked by pirates as the crew originally reported. and what exactly was pulled by that ship? here is what we have been able to put together from a number of reports. the arctic sea was supposed to be hauling timber. it recently underwent repairs at a russian ship yard notorious for smuggling. now the experts are suggesting the ship may have been carrying some sort of secret cargo and

guesses that's all they are, range from drugs, weapons, and hazardous materials but a lot of people are pointing toward cocaine. there is a report that that ship may have been taken by the russian mafia. dana lewis has much more on all of this. he is reporting from our bureau tonight in moscow. >> hi, shepard, this is the mystery of the summer how does anybody disappear with a 4,000-ton cargo ship. what an intriguing story. the arctic sea registered under a maltese flag in finland. 15 russian crew supposedly only carrying lumber. it's been boarded off the coast of sweden july it 249 by armed men claiming to be swedish drug police. later turns out they weren't police at all. july 28th the ship makes a routine radio call passing through the dover strait and may have been seen by portuguese spotter plain in the bay of business kay. portuguese authorities are now denying that if it's a ghost ship it pirated the first act of piracy in european waters.

why no ran some demand. >> modern prior rats take over ships to ask for ran some. so they don't make any secret about their hijacking. they have to report it because then they have to negotiate a ransom payout. now this ship disappeared into thin air. >> a kremlin source tells me we don't know what this is all about. is it about drugs or a criminal operation? arguing over who owns the ship or maybe it's just straight upright piracy. a maritime web web site here carrying reports that carrying off gentleman bra gibraltar. calling on services to find and free the shim. tonight we know the that russian navy has a handful of ships out in the atlantic including nuclear submarines and the president's office here in the kremlin says they are prepared to use force to get those russian sailors safe and sound and back home. shepard: dana lewis reporting earlier from moscow. the life boat used by somali pirates to hold an american ship

captain hostage for days is now on its way to a museum. you will remember maersk alabama captain richard phillips became an ahero back in april when pirates attacked his cargo ship and he kept the crew safe while offering himself to the pirates. after quite a long standoff. navy snipers shot and killed three of the captors and the fourth later brought to the united states for protection. here's the life boat on the left there. it's about 20 feet long with an enclosed top. the man was brought back here for prosecution. florida's national navy museum, which is dedicated to navy seal history will soon get the life boat to honor philip's safe return. the debate over what to do with the suspected terrorists housed at guantanamo bay's prison coming to a michigan community now. today, federal officials visited a maximum security facility near the town of standish michigan. it's in a rural part of the state. not far from lake huron. we are told the prison is the biggest employer in the area but it could close soon or that's the plan.

so some in standish are hoping the government brings the terrorist suspects to the prison and keeps the employees working. >> benefits from that point of view. from our point of view initially we don't want to lose what we have. they are good citizens. they have been in our community for a long time. their children are in our schools. shepard: citizens in the community are less concerned about who will be working at the prison and more worried about who will be housed there. >> they are jihadists and i think there is a difference between a home-grown criminal and a jihadist. and i think we are going to be a target. shepard: either way it will be some time before some folks in standish find out what's going to happen at that prison. federal officials say several other locations are also under consideration. they won't make any decisions until they visit all of them. a wake today for eunice kennedy shriver, the sister of president john f. kennedy and the woman who gave worldwide acclaim for founding the special olympics and her work with the mentally disabled. the public memorial took place in centerville, massachusetts on

cape cod her daughter maria shriver california's first lady was there along with the governor arnold schwarzenegger. also oprah winfrey. ted scend battling brain cancer and was not expected to attend. mrs. shriver died tuesday. she was 88 years old. if you have ever picked up an electric guitar or listened too practically any popular music produced in the last 70 years. it's a very sad day. the inventor and innovator of the guitar icon les paul died of complications of pneumonia. ♪ shepard: les paul born in wisconsin 1915, credited with inventing the modern electric guy guitar. gibson has produced since 1952.

multi track studio recordings he was a damn fine musician to boot. a jazz player who jammed nearly every monday here in new york almost until the very end. musicians who played his guitars a whose who of rock royalty. keith richards, jimmy page, acre clapton, pete townsend. that's just the beginning. but the genius who started it all, the great les paul gone tonight after 94 years.

shepard: facts check now. there is a lot of bad information floating around in the health care reform debate. we are working so sort through all the rumors and the myths and give you the real answers about what's being proposed in congress. for example, the house minority leader john boehner and at least

one pro life group have said the plans for reform would lead to government subsidized abortions. but two different nonpartisan groups have reported that is false. and that one of the plans actually bans using public funds for abortion of course the people pushing for reform have also stretched the truth quite a bit. that also includes the president, we're told. wendell goler is live at the white house with our health care fact check tonight. wendell, hello. >> hello, shep. as we fact-check the health care reform debate, we are finding flaws in some of the most basic claims and understandable concerns in some the most outrageous. >> rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the house of representatives voted for death panels that will that will basically pull the plug on grandma. >> this is based on a proposal to have medicare pay for

volunteer end of life counseling sessions that even some republicans say is being misrepresented by people like former alaska governor sarah palin. one estimate 30% of medicare's budget is spent on the 6% of recipients who do i each other. critics are concerned there is incentive to find savings there the president has called the notion that health care reforms will cut people's medicare benefits another myth but some experts say the plan to find billions of dollars a year in savings may mean lower reimbursement rates and that will cause doctors to opt out like they do with medicaid. >> look at medicaid which has undergone revolution to draconian plan. medicaid in many parts of the country is hardly offering any insurance coverage to patients. >> the president has also promised the health reforms won't add to the deaf sift but the government has a bad record of predicting health care costs more than a few years into the future. medicare's cost 25 years after congress created it was 10 times the initial projection.

administration officials say we will simply have to live within the budget on health care reform. but the popular prescription drug benefit former president bush signed into law five years ago has now doubled the rate at which medicare's overall costs are rising. and lawmakers are reluctant to cut it. shepard? >> wendell goler, live at the white house. bendel, wendell, thank you. we are just getting word from a local television station here in new york city that the faye has suspended two air traffic controllers in the wake of the mid-air collision over the hudson river between new york and new jersey. according to reporting wnbc television one air traffic controller was suspended for talking on his telephone at the time of the crash and the supervisor suspended for being out of the room at the time of the crash. again, this is from that airplane versus helicopter crash over the hudson river in new york and new jersey over the weekend. and that reporting from wnbc channel 4 news in new york. a south korean worker held for months by the north is now a

free man. the top story on a fox trip around the world in 80 seconds. south korea, the hyundai employee says only that is he happy to be returned safely authorities in pyongyang picked him up for n. march for denouncing the regime. they remained at war because they did not sign a peace treaty to end the korean conflict in the 1950s. the release comes on the heels of former president's bill clinton's trip to north korea to free two u.s. journalists who had been taken captive by the inningens. taiwan, pressure is building on the government to speed up rescue efforts from last weekend's devastate typhoon. the military sending thousands more troops to help in the hard hit areas. hundreds of people still stranded by the storm damage. more than 100 people confirmed dead. israel, these folks are keeping watch for a mermaid. for real. the town of kiryat is offering a

million dollars for proof. a city hall spokesman says several people claim they have seen a mermaid off the beach but no one has offered a picture. united kingdom. the first asian lions born at the london zoo in a decade making their first public outing. the cubs almost two and a half months old. the zoo logical director says there are only about 300 asian lions left in the wild. and that's a wrap on this fox trip around the world in 80 seconds. shepard: seems tiger woods will get a chance to compete in the olympics after all. the game's international committee now reports it's decided to recommend that golf be included in the 2016 games. the full assembly set to vote on that in fact o tiger woods has said he will compete if he is not retired by then. all the major professional tours say they will change their schedules to avoid conflicting with the games. and now bears. we like bears. we have soon them getting into all kinds of trouble lately.

some crash picnics, some end up bouncing off trampolines our favorite ones. last night we learned some even like to go shopping for fur of all things it was only a matter of time before this happened. the whole story and the latest edition of bear news from fox news coming next. ♪ ooh, yeah wiggle your day with jell-o sugar-free gelatin. ♪ ooh, yeah it's 10 tasty calories... loved by lips and hips alike. ♪ shake it, shake it, ooh, yeah ♪ jell-o. because every diet needs a little wiggle room. of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance.

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the new lightweight hp mini netbook with windows and america's largest and most-reliable 3g network built in. only 199.99 with mobile broadband plans from 39.99 i am-- speechless, envious. wanna be me right now. getting one. shepard: bear story. a famous bear wandering around southern california. you will be able to seat bear hopping the fence. see him? very comfortable then he goes in a dip in somebody's pool. why not? he is an accomplished swimmer. the bear later wandered back into the wild. why not? that is not as cool as. this oh yes, not a real gun just a tran tranquilizer. we are told that bear at least at the time was fine. top stories now. wral reports the former presidential candidate john edwards will nit that he did father a child with his former

mistress. and ford motor company today announced it will be stepping up production of some of its most popular model the move to help restock decompleted show rooms. and on this day in 1961 i con of cold war began to take take shape. the city had been divided between the soviet east and the democratic west for more than a decade at the time. as is the case with most political barriers it all began with barbed wire. as east germans began to flee. communist government began to loosen. the wall cut the city right in half. for nearly 40 years the wall was patrolled night and day separating separating family and friends. the wall came down. it was one of the most dramatic moments of the century. iron curtainut